[1] Debut of the "fast" Rift.
[2] Debut.
[3] Will the Circle Be Unbroken? signal, two Get Back signals, Star Trek, Aw Fuck!, Up Up and Away, Tritone Down, and Me and My Arrow signals, two Complete Stop signals, and It Don't Mean A Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing and Simpsons signals.
[4] First instructions: Charlie Chan, Simpsons, Me and My Arrow (Asshole in the Front Row), Don't Mean a Thing, Random Note, All Fall Down, and Turn Turn Turn signals introduced with Bowie being played in the background.
[5] Simpsons, Turn Turn Turn, Aw Fuck!, and All Fall Down signals.

Many debuts were played, including Maze, My Friend, Mound, NICU, and Sleeping Monkey. This show also marked the first performance of the “new” revised Rift (the last “old” Rift was May 19, 1990, or 200 shows previous) and presented the formal introduction of the Secret Language Instructions. With the band playing Bowie in the background, Trey introduced the Charlie Chan, Simpsons, Me and My Arrow (Asshole in the Front Row), Don't Mean a Thing, Random Note, All Fall Down, and Turn Turn Turn signals. Mike also teased How High the Moon during the Instructions. Trey referred to NICU as “In an Intensive Care Unit,” though that title was later changed, and referred to My Friend as “Knife.” Bowie contained a Jeopardy! tease and a Will the Circle Be Unbroken? signal, two Get Back signals, Star Trek, Aw Fuck!, Up Up and Away, Tritone Down, and Me and My Arrow signals, two Complete Stop signals, and It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing and Simpsons signals. Possum included Simpsons, Turn Turn Turn, Aw Fuck!, and All Fall Down signals.

Show Reviews

First show of Spring Tour '92 with first, but pretty solid nonetheless, versions of Maze, My Friend, Mound, NICU, and Sleeping Monkey.

GET THE SOUNDBOARD OF THIS SHOW OFF THE SPREADSHEET OR STREAM FROM PHISHTRACKS.COM - NICE, CLEAN RECORDING!!!

Rift smokes and these early extended versions take on a different mood than the Rifts of 3.0. Trey shreds after Page's solo (@ 5:00) and offers an array of notes instead of the typical solo we get in most 3.0 versions - crowd was def. digging this version.

Sparkle > It's Ice > The Oh Kee Pa Ceremony showscased the band's ability to stream three shorter songs together in their early years and Page absolutely rages on It's Ice (clocks in at 9+ minutes)

Maze, for first time played live, is a definite keeper! Trey's shreds pers usual but again is very creative in his playing, here.

Reba - The "entire band solo" here has gorgeous interplay between Page and Trey

SECRET LANGUAGE INSTRUCTIONS!!!

STASH / MOUND / NICU / POSSOM - all solid versions and sound great off this recording....shredfest all the way...

Yet another show that is forcing me to take '92 a bit more seriously. Their sound, in general, is more fully realized here than I was expecting from '92 (for more on this see my review of 12.12.92).

All of the debuts are fun and well played, though some of them still have a little maturing to do. Particularly, Rift and Maze have not yet come into their own. Each is a little slower than normal, which is fine (in fact, I really like Maze at the slower tempo), but each don't *feel* right. Their grooves are a little shaky and not in the pocket yet. Rift also has a nifty extra solo from Trey that is quite phenomenal. The other debut that is a different from "normal" is NICU, which is played over a different arrangement and has a nice Trey solo. MFMF and Sleeping Monkey were performed as they would be for years to come and the debut of Mound is the cleanest live performance I've heard of the song.

On to the non-debut parts of the show. Whenever I hear a Reba I haven't heard before I always like trying to guess what @TheEmu's rating of it is going to be on his nifty Reba jam chart. This is one of those cases where we disagree. I thought this was a pretty well played version in the composed section and the jam and was guessing an @TheEmu rating of around 9-10, but he said only 6.5 and commented that there was a lot of slop. Moral of the story? To each his own. He did rate the next two Reba's (3.11 and 3.12) in the 9-10 range, so I'll have to check those out to see what differences there are. The Bowie to end the first set is a real rager, one of the hotter type I versions I can think of.

Stash in the second set is pretty short and really raging. Same with Llama. This Possum with all of the secret language is fun too. Hearing the first language instructions in this show was a real treat. They were (and are, though they could do a lot more with the smaller crowds/venues of this era) such damn good entertainers. Honestly, despite some real musical highlights, listening to the secret language instructions was probably my favorite part of the show.

I'd say the solid playing, debuts of lots of classic material, and the first secret language instructions make this show required listening.

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